Cinder's Plan (Full)

I know that I've previously mentioned what I think Cinder's Plan is on several occasions, but I've never fully written it out in detail. So instead of trawling through all my other theories to find the various sections of it, I decided to write it all down in one place.

Firstly, I should say that although I have an idea of what her plan is, I don't know her reasons for it yet. Hopefully, we'll find them out soon.

Anyway, so far we have seen certain parts of her plan: infiltrating Beacon, attending the Vytal festival and uploading a virus into the CCT's computer system, as well as lead an entire army of grimm into Vale. So, what are her reasons for this?

I personally believe that she intends to remove Ozpin from his position, by either having him demoted entirely, or killing him. This has been hinted at at various times, and would also make for good moment as the lights of Beacon go out. As well as this, Monty mentioned that Cinder was in opposition with Ozpin and knew that he was a very powerful Huntsman. This could mean that she was a student of his in the past (and would also explain her symbol being the Black Queen). However, this is more on her reasons for her actions which will probably be a separate post.

She has already made several moves to remove Ozpin. This can be seen in the fact that Ironwood already replaced his position as the military man for the festival. The reason she intends to have Ozpin replaced by Ironwood is because Ironwood is extremely easy to manipulate. He is hot headed, powerful and also has a romantic rivalry with Ozpin for Glynda. There isn't anyone who could be better for Cinder's aspirations to replace the current headmaster.

It has also been hinted that Cinder may attempt to take over the Altesian Knight programme using the Black Queen virus she uploaded. Penny would also likely be a part of the take over, and as she is also taking part in the Vytal festival, Cinder will have direct contact with her.

Another part of her plan is the collection of dust. Since the first episode, she has had Torchwick collecting huge amounts of dust for her. This could be for several reasons. She may desire to form some kind of alliance with the Schnee Company as they would probably appreciate having their dust returned to them, as well as other company's.

Or, she may intend to use it for its more basic abilities: making things explode. With the White Fang under her command, and with the ability to distract all of Vale, she could easily set up the dust in order to cause a detonation that would leave Vale vulnerable to the hordes of grimm outside, including all the Goliaths that aren't too far away. This would be catastrophic and would probably end up with Vale being utterly destroyed, especially if Ironwood's Altesian Knights have been reprogammed to not attack the grimm, and maybe even turn on the humans and faunus as well. Or of course, Ironwood may simply have already been corrupted and would have the Altesian Knights "fail to defeat the grimm".

With all this going on, it is likely that she will put that "list" of hers into action. If this list is a list of those she intends to either brainwash or corrupt, then she would do so now, creating an army of Vale's best Huntsmen and Huntresses to rule what's left of the hold. Alternatively, these may be people she intends to kill, and, well with all she has at her disposal, it wouldn't be difficult.
With this done, Vale would either be under her control or destroyed, and the events of the Vytal festival would cause distrust between all the remaining holds, thus plunging Remnant into chaos, and allowing her to take control, or let the grimm wipe them out.

And thus, she has basically destroyed every bit of hope left in the world, and it'll be up to RWBY, JNPR, SSSN and however many teachers are left to save the day.


By the way, Cinder may also be able to use the dust to control the individuals on her list.


Update: I also forgot that the arena is a massive structure filled with people that is vulnerably floating in the sky, and likely runs off of dust powered floating devices, that could easily be blown up with more dust. :\

Neo Fan Art

This one's not a theory, but is my second attempt at digital fan art.

RWBY Romance? (I'm sorry)

Alright, this is where the twelve year old girl living within me takes over.

So far, several ships have started sailing in RWBY. We have Nora and Ren, Sun and Blake, Velvet and Yatsuhashi, Coco and Fox, Glynda and Ozpin, Neptune and Weiss (Or Jaune and Weiss if you're a hipster like me), and Jaune and Pyrrha; as well as whatever Tumblr has been making happen. However, there are several who have been left unaccounted for.

So, it's time to take a look at what I think will be upcoming romances. Firstly, Qrow and Winter. This one is obvious. It's not like she likes him or anything b-b-baka. Additionally, Miles himself has given them the ship name "Snowbird", so it's pretty much official.

It should also be known that there are there will be at least one LGBTQ+ character arriving soon. I get the sense that as it was apparently a character Monty was adamant about, they are probably going to be important, and could be one of the new members of SSSN (Scarlet and Sage). As it was only explained that there was one, I'm not sure as to whether they will have a partner or not, but hey, let's wait and see.

Update: Pretty sure Scarlet's the one as when posters were being held up, his was the the only one being held by a male student. Also Miles mentioned how Monty had been specifically adamant about Scarlet, and this is probably why.

Port and Oobleck may have their resolute bromance, but neither Yang nor Ruby have a significant other (unless, of course, you are in Tumblr). Whereas I don't see Ruby becoming interested in anything other than killing all the grimm for a while (although it would be entertaining to maybe have someone fall for her instead). Yang on the other hand would most likely end up with either Sage or Scarlet as it seems that so far SSSN has only been introduced to give people in RWBY a romantic counterpart.

Anyway, now that my inner fangirl has been satiated, I can return to being my usual male nerdy self, and get back on track with discussing who is going to die, and when the series will become dark and stuff.

Those with Death Flags

So, as we have heard from pretty much every producer and writer on the RWBY team that the series will get progressively dark, and what's darker than character's dying? So here are a few of the characters who I believe may not be there to see the end.

Firstly, there is Ozpin. He is the loveable headmaster of the magic school who signifies hope. If you've seen Harry Potter, you know why he's going. Cinder's master plan will probably end up with this beloved Character meeting his end, and thus plunging Beacon, and all of Vale into chaos. In addition, he even has Qrow to replace him as I have said before. Another issue is that if he goes, Glynda may end up meeting the same fate. Not all is bad though as it has been hinted that Ozpin's physical body may not be all there is to him, and death may not be enough to fully beat him. He could see RWBY, JNPR and SSSN running around, directed by a holographic Ozpin ;) and even if Cinder's plan is to remove, he doesn't necessarily have to die, he just has to be replaced by someone like Ironwood. In any case, I can see him being removed from his position at some point...

Next is Yang. Out of all of team RWBY, she is currently the most likely to go. Each of them could end up dying. Weiss may sacrifice herself after completing her character arc and becoming a true hero, Blake could turn evil and need to be killed, or die to defeat the White Fang, and Ruby could sacrifice herself to remove all evil from the world in a very Madoka Magica way. However, Yang would be the most fitting to die. She is Ruby's emotional shield and idol. She is also closer to Ruby than anyone else. Her search for Raven is almost her only reason for helping move the plot, and once that question is answered, she may not be needed anymore. Her death would be the driving force for the rest of the characters to defeat whoever the main villain is at that time. The chance of any of the RWBY characters being killed off is slim though as RWBY has received the same "keep making if you keep watching treatment" as Red vs Blue, and Yang's death would have to occur in one of the first seven volumes (as that was the number initially planned), meaning the rest of the seasons would be rather hollow. Yang would have to die very close to the end, or be replaced very shortly after her demise. So if you see another character who has a name beginning with "Y" and becomes almost a sister character for Ruby, be prepared.

Third, there is Qrow. If my initial plan for Ozpin comes true, then this guy should be safe, but if not, then he may not be so lucky. Qrow is similar to Yang in terms of being an idol to Ruby. He is the mentor/uncle character that has basically been written into a story only to be killed since Star Wars. It even is written in the correct stages of having a story that the main character's mentor should either pass away or be incapacitated in order to allow said main character to shine. A worrying amount points towards Qrow not surviving unfortunately. I think it is safe to say that either Ozpin or Qrow will be going before the end, but once one of them has been knocked out of the game, you can be much less worried about the other.

Fourth and Fifth are Mercury and Emerald. With these two, it is unlikely that both are going to die, but if one of them were to, it wouldn't be surprised. The reason I feel that one of these might not make it isn't down to them being evil, but the fact that they could easily change sides. Often in this kind of scenario, the villain will demonstrate their ruthlessness by killing the traitor, and Cinder could very well be this kind of villain. The more likely to die is Emerald, as she is also the one with a character arc set up that could nicely lead her to joining Ruby and the good guys. She just probably won't be able to do much more after having made this change.

As this has been quite an unpleasant theory, I think that I should also say which characters I think are completely safe from death. Any JNPR fans, don't worry, there haven't been any plot devices that suggest that these four are going to be killed any time soon. The same goes for Sun and Neptune.

Neopolitan

This theory has probably already been thought of by nine tenths of the RWBY audience, and is not a particularly large stretch of the imagination. Either way, it's still based on unanswered questions and thus I felt like I should jot it down.

So we don't know a lot about Neo at this point, partly because she has had so little screen time, as well as the fact that, well, she doesn't talk a lot.

In terms of who she actually is, I'm beginning to think that she may be directly related to Torchwick. This is for several reasons. Firstly, her original character design was explain by Monty to be based off of a gender-bent cosplay of Torchwick. As well as this, they have some visual similarities. They both wear a white coat, and have hair that is longer on one side, and in terms of siblings in RWBY, that's about as close as you can get without being the Malachite twins. The rest of her design seems to have taken inspiration from Nui Harime, who will have been appearing at around the same time as we can assume Neo was designed.

In terms of personality, they both have  a definite aura of arrogance about them. They are also of similar levels of ability (Blake seems to be more powerful than Yang when she has been given the dust by Weiss). Even taking this into consideration, Neo is probably a level above Torchwick. This wouldn't change much though as it would still follow RWBY's trend of having the women be stronger than the men in pretty much every scenario.

Finally, we have only heard her be called "Neo" and have yet to hear her second name. This means that it is still more than possible that she is called "Neopolitan Torchwick".

Other than her relations to Torchwick, we also don't know what her semblance is. However, at this point it is being made increasingly clear that she is probably either some form of escapist or illusionist.

On two separate occasions, she has proven her ability to escape from daunting situations. On the other hand, this could be only one part of her power. In the two scenarios, she escapes in different methods (shattering in one and phasing away in the other). In the first situation, she escapes with Torchwick as well, meaning that the power doesn't only concern her.

For this reason, I am swayed more towards her being an illusionist, in a similar way to Blake. She could leave behind an image whilst making her escape. This would also mean that her disguise in Volume 3 would also have been formed from her power, which makes sense as she has too much hair to wear a wig and is too classy a person to dye her hair for something as small as an evil plan for world domination.



Also in the clip from Volume 3 episode 1, she did have a voice actor. She may actually have some dialogue :)

Feels

This one isn't a theory, but is just here to add some feels to your day. If you didn't already know, the birds flying towards the sun in Volume 3 Episode 1 do so in a way that makes them identical to Monty Oum's signature.

;(

Evil Penny and the Black Queen Virus

So Penny may become evil, or have lots of evil clones. This could be the case for several reasons.

Firstly, she was modified in the construction stage by Ironwood, who we all know is all kinds of evil. This same man has overseen the construction of the new Altesian Knights and Paladin mechs. These said Paladin mechs also found a way into the White Fang's hands. Whether this was him, the Schnee Company or Cinder has yet to be made clear, but in any case, he holds some blame.

The current situation in Vale is that Ironwood's Altesian Knights are now its defenders. As well as this, Cinder has probably uploaded a virus into the computer systems in the area. This could likely be either to monitor all incoming and outgoing calls in Vale, or to control the Altesian Knights. If the latter is the case, then Ironwood's tampering with Penny may mean that she is going to be used as part of the Altesian Knight takeover.

There is also the chance that Ironwood has nothing to do with this (which would explain the lack of information he had when speaking with Torchwick at the end of volume 2. Either way, Penny still gets controlled as she is a robot and that's just what happens.

It should also be noted that the kind, loving Penny we know appears to still be in a beta stage as she has mentioned on several occasions, saying that she is not ready. However, when you can take out an entire army of White Fang and their airships, as well as enter a competition designed for the best trained fighters in the world, being incomplete doesn't seem likely. I think that she may need to be slightly modified to finalise her ability to become an evil robot of death and destruction.

Penny herself could also be a prototype. It is frequently mentioned that people want to start using more robots instead of people against the grimm, and Penny could be the first of a new breed of Altesian Knights designed to hunt and kill grimm. And of course the finished versions will become evil because Cinder is probably up to something along those lines.

Somewhere along the line I realised that this theory wasn't one of my more serious ones.

To be honest, I just kind of want the protagonists to fight an army of overpowered human-like robots, and RWBY is probably the most likely place for that sort of thing to happen :)
If this were to happen, it may not be necessary for Penny to be controlled as Cinder would have an entire arm of possibly stronger robots.





I also only realised Penny is based off of Pinocchio until after volume 2 had finished because I don't pick up on things like that. :\

The Moon, Trailers and Weiss

Most of what has been seen in the four trailers has already been discussed, but out of all of them, the "White" trailer has yet to be fully explained, or even explained at all save the hint that Jaune may have seen Weiss singing during it. The trailer does show several things that are not often expanded on. 

Firstly of course, is the giant metal armour. This is most likely to be some test that was set by Weiss' father, either to measure her strength (quite ruthlessly) or perhaps a subtle attempt on her life (just because her dad sounds like the kind of villain who'd do that). Another possibility is that the armour was a metaphor for her father's abuse, and the injury was just him lashing out at her (although this seems a bit too deep and dark). 

Alternatively, it could have been some kind of past guardian turned against her to force her into a kill or be killed scenario by her father. In any case, it's probably got to be her dad who is behind it as he seems to be the cause of all her troubles.

The other trailer's stories have pretty much been answered. Ruby is visiting her mother, Blake is stealing the train with the dust cargo with Adam, and Yang was probably searching for Raven. 

However, there is something that I did notice throughout the trailers.

The moon seems to be in various stages of destruction. In the "Red" trailer, the moon is whole, and has yet to be destroyed at all. In the "White" trailer, it is begin to chip away, and in the final two, it is in the same state as it is in the series. 

Full

Chipped

Destroyed

This makes it likely that the moon was destroyed some time after Summer Rose's death. It could therefore be due to the actions of Raven, Cinder, Ozpin or pretty much any other of the present mysterious individuals or groups. In any case it makes the theory that dust is chunks of the moon unlikely as dust has been there forever in Remnant, and the moon's destruction has not.

It may also be a source of dust and has been somehow mined by the Schnee Company because they're always up to no good.

One more note on the trailers: Sun vs Adam needs to happen.

Reasons for the Breach

Basically to put Ironwood in control so that he is the best option for replacing Ozpin.

That's pretty much it :\

I don't even know why I'm posting this one.

Yatsuhashi and the White Fang

I am aware that I am most certainly not the first to have thought of this, but still felt that I should say it just in case you hadn't already read it/seen it somewhere else. In short, there have been many comparisons made between Yatsuhashi and the White Fang Lieutenant. In fact, it seems that they have the exact same base model. This could mean one of several things.

Firstly, they are the same person. This option makes a lot of sense as take away appearance, they both use a similarly sized weapon, they are both roughly of the same skill level (just a bit above Weiss, as a first year should be in comparison with second years), they both like faunus (It is hinted from the fact that Yatsuhashi protects Velvet on multiple occasions that they are together, and, well, the lieutenant is in the white fang...), they may both have the same tattoo as we have yet to see all of Yatsuhashi's left arm, and finally, Yatsuhashi has yet to speak, either meaning that he cannot speak, or more likely, the audience is not allowed to hear his voice yet as we would all realise that they have the same voice actor. It would also be interesting to see a human supporting the White Fang from behind a mask.

On the other hand, it could just be that they used the same model and that they are entirely unrelated. This wouldn't be the first time in RWBY that models have been reused, and the lieutenant was not named once meaning he could have been a minor character that was only added to stop Weiss helping Blake, thus allowing Torchwick to try and manipulate her. He is also not shown to have survived the train crash, enforcing this point. However, this may change due to the amount of love from fans that the lieutenant received after being such a badass.

Finally, there is the chance that Yatsuhashi has a twin brother. This idea may not be all that appealing to many, but it would explain why they look so similar, yet the two were always separate from one another. Although they were never seen in the same room together, they still were at such a distance from one another that it wouldn't make sense for them to be able to be the same person. Also by having a twin, we may get to see Yatsuhashi struggle in his loyalty as he has to choose between his brother and probably Velvet as well, or his duty against the White Fang. This could make him have a reason for existing as a character, and could be quite interesting if done well.

Velvet's weapon

This is entirely theory and is based on pretty much nothing. Despite this, I get the sense that Velvet's weapon may not actually be a single weapon, but rather, a collection of weapons from which to choose from. For example, it could be a series of guns and swords that each use dust in a different way, that she can select for different scenarios.

The reasons I believe this are as follows; Firstly, Coco makes a point of saying that she had spent all semester building it up, leading me to think that it is a series of tools and items to use in various situations.

Secondly, well, it was said to be Monty's favourite weapon, and it is clear that the weapons he preferred were ones the were as complicated, but useful in various scenarios (see everything in RWBY), and you can't get anything that fits that definition more than having something for every situation  in a single box. As someone who appreciates and designs vaguely similar weapons, I can say that my favourite of my own creations was a collection of tools and weapons as well (which actually gave me the thought that if I had thought of it, Monty must definitely have had similar ideas purely for being better at me at everything and more). Of course, this also means that he had probably thought of something much more clever and none of this may be true.

Finally, if Velvet's weapon is a collection of weapons, then it is also implied that she has many, but can only use each once, as Coco also tells her not to waste her weapon on some grimm.

In any case, I am more than hyped to see what it is :)



By the way, there is also another theory that appears to be much more fitting than my own which is that Velvet's weapon is actually an automated rabbit that she has stitched together. This also makes sense and fits the Velveteen Rabbit story. Her symbol is also a heart stitched together.

If asked which idea were more likely, I would definitely go with the theory that is not my own, but I am putting mine out there just in case.

Jaune

Jaune is still a bit of a mystery at this point, or at least in terms of his semblance. Kerry has confirmed that it has already been shown, and the only time this can have been is when Cardin tried to punch him in the face. During this time, Cardin appears to hurt his hand against Jaune. This could be one of several things. Firstly, Jaune's semblance could make his aura increase drastically as a shield, (which would link in nicely to the fact that he uses a shield anyway). Alternatively, his semblance could mean that when he is attacked, his aura hits back with the same force that he was hit with.

The first option is more likely as when he is hit, his hands glow with aura showing that it is probably stronger. As well as this it didn't appear that he had taken any physical damage. However, this could be due to the aura acting as normal. The second option may therefore be just as possible as Jaune still was knocked over by the punch, implying that it still hit him.

I also saw an idea suggesting that Jaune has two souls. I don't know how it would work, but it sounded pretty cool.

Ozpin, Beacon and Cinder's Plan

Honestly, I'm not at all certain as to what Ozpin is. The only theory I have is that he may be Beacon or part of Beacon itself.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, when he is giving his first speech at Beacon, it is commented on that he is noticeably out of it. Additionally, when speaking to Ruby, he explain that he has made more mistakes than anyone else in the world. This could just be an exaggeration, or it may mean that he has been alive for a lot longer than we believe or that he holds responsibility over wide array of people. In the 4th World of Remnant, it is hinted that Ozpin's semblance means that he is more than just a human.

This doesn't prove that he is part of Beacon itself in the slightest. There are a few reasons as to why I think he is part of Beacon itself instead of something else. Firstly, he seems to know a bit too much about what goes on in the school, (eg. pretty much everything he says implies that he knows more than everyone else).

Secondly, he is constantly in the clock tower, which is of course where he is meant to be. However, the fact that that the tower has such a complex clockwork mechanism may mean that it is powered by Ozpin himself. This may be related to the idea that Beacon will fall soon. I have the sense that Cinder's plan (which has been said to be VERY evil) may involve killing Ozpin during the Vytal festival and perhaps framing another country or person (eg. Ironwood). Ozpin's death could cause the clock-tower to stop working and Beacon to go dark, which sounds evil enough to be Cinder's plan and would be very Harry Potter-esque which much of Rwby already has been.

One final reason as to why I believe that this may be the case is that Ruby has compared Ozpin and Qrow, meaning that he could die as he already has a likely candidate as a replacement. Although if Ironwood is in on Cinder's plan, then he may been elected to replace Ozpin instead, so Qrow being the headmaster at Beacon will probably be several story arcs away.

Blake and Evilness

Blake could well turn evil at some point. This will probably only be temporarily  if it happens at all, but there have been a lot of hints that this could be the case.

Firstly, when Blake and Yang find the chess piece relics, it is Yang who chooses the White Knight piece. On the other hand, Blake spends the entire time staring at the Black Queen (Which appears to be Cinder's piece)

Secondly, there is the fact that Roman attempts to convince Blake to join him, to which she hesitates slightly (before kicking him in the head). As well as this, there is the moment when Cinder mentions adding Pyrrha "to the list". This could either be a list of people who the villains plan to kill, or coerce into joining them. The fact that Pyrrha would be added to the list obviously implies that there already is few people who they plan to kill/join. This is not at all solid, but I get the feeling that Blake may already be on said list.

Also, although its been confirmed that Cinder and Blake are not related, they are still similar in appearance. Which means we know that Blake would look cool if she were evil.

(This idea isn't one to be taken too seriously by the way :P)

Raven (and Qrow?) evil?

I'm almost certain that this has already been discussed, so sorry for being slow. Anyway, I realised that Raven's portals are the same as the orb which can be seen in the openings, significantly in the first one, where it is shown to attack team RWBY. In the third opening, it is shown to come from Qrow's sword. Then add in the fact that Raven disappeared years ago and doesn't seem to have aged, and wears a grimm mask, I can't help but feel that she may be the cause of the grimm arriving. Either that or she herself has become a grimm. From the amount the orb is shown in the openings, and that it is clearly some form of antagonist, I think that either Raven is the final villain, or that she is at least linked with what I am assuming to be an approaching disaster.

The orb itself is also shown to almost replace the moon. It could therefore be related to the destruction of the moon. One possibility is that Qrow's team were directly involved in the disaster that destroyed the moon, and Raven may well have been some kind of sacrifice as a result.

I don't know if Cinder and her group have anything to do with Raven and the grimm as they haven't shown any kind of partnership with her. The only thing I have noticed is that Neo seems to recognise her, and knows to run away quickly. I'm not sure if this is due to her simply realising that Raven was powerful or not though. It just seemed a bit too uncharacteristic for Neo to run away like that just after blocking one attack. Therefore, I doubt that Cinder and Raven are working together as threatening one of Cinder's colleagues would not be necessary for her to make Neo leave if they were working together. It could just be that Raven is protective of her daughter and will become very angry if someone tries to kill her, to the point of risking a break in alliances. At the most, I think Cinder could be attempting to use Raven for her own purposes, without Raven herself knowing.

Alternatively, as the orb was shown to come from Qrow's sword in opening 3, and that he and Raven are related, it could be that he is also still working with Raven.

Ultimately, Raven is probably the evil grimm queen. Qrow may be evil and working with her, and Cinder is doing, well, something.